According to the OECD/World Bank, the Jordanian population increased from 1990 to 2008 by 2.7 million - an 86% growth in population, compared to 39% growth in Lebanon, 56% growth in Israel, 67% growth in Syria[1] and according to the U.S. Census 106% growth in the Palestinian territories.[4]

The official language is Arabic. English is used widely in commerce and government. About 70% of Jordan's population is urban; less than 6% of the rural population is nomadic or semi-nomadic. Most people live where the rainfall supports agriculture.

In Jordan, there is no official census data for how many inhabitants have Palestinian roots but they are estimated to constitute half of the population,[13][14] which in 2008 amounted to about 3 million.[14] Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics put their number at 3.24 million in 2009.[15] There are more than two million registered Palestinian refugees in Jordan as of January 2012.[16]

Around 58,000 Iraqis are estimated to live in Jordan as of January 2015.[17]

Circassians obtained Ottoman citizenships since 1887, immigrated to Jordan and they selected Amman.[21] They settled in several cities such as Jerash and Zarqa, and established their own village, Wadi as-Ser.

The Circassians played a role in the history of Transjordan era, and are famous for their loyalty to Abdullah I of Jordan and his family, obtaining the Transjordan citizenship in the law of citizenship that was issued in 1928,[22] while other tribes obtained their citizenship in 1930 or later.[23]

Until recently, most Mandaeans were Iraqi, but this religious minority fled the country in the face of this violence, and the Mandaeans community in Iraq faces extinction.[26] Out of the over 60,000 Mandaeans in Iraq in the early 1990s, only about 5,000 to 7,000 remain there; as of early 2007, over 80% of Iraqi Mandaeans were refugees in Syria and Jordan as a result of the Iraq War.

The era of king Hussein of Jordan saw increased school enrollment rates, which resulted in a rapid rise in the literacy rate in Jordan. At the beginning of his reign in 1952 the literacy rate was 33% and grew to 85% in 1996; according to the 2009 estimate, it is now 94% of the total population.[27]